About us
Our Mission
The Círculo de Bellas Artes de Madrid is a private non-profit cultural entity declared "Center for the Protection of the Fine Arts and Public Utility". Since its inception, the Círculo has developed a significant work in the field of cultural creation and promotion, with an international scope. As one of the most important private cultural centers in Europe, the Círculo is characterized by its open attitude towards the most outstanding and innovative artistic currents.
It is a multidisciplinary center that hosts and develops activities ranging from plastic arts to literature, science, philosophy, cinema and the performing arts.
Our Vision
At the Círculo we defend culture and thought as a shelter from the noice created by the vertiginous social rhythm and from the risk, increasingly pressing, of listening only to the loudest voices.
Thanks to the programming of a wide variety of artistic manifestations, we design spaces in which different perspectives of the world can coexist, and in which we can all participate through debate, reflection and active listening. We understand culture as a shelter, but it should not take shelter in itself. Therefore, we consolidate conexions with other disciplines, such as science or education.
Management team
Director
Valerio Rocco Lozano
Program Director
Laura Manzano Méndez
Director of Strategic Development
Carolina del Olmo
Communication Director
Sofía García Pérez
Economic-Financial Director
Isabel Pozo
Director of Projects and Institutional Relations
Pilar García Velasco
Board of Directors
President
Juan Miguel Hernández León
Vice-president
Antón Patiño Pérez
General Secretary
Ignacio Amestoy
Treasurer
María Jesús Leza Núñez
Vowels
Miguel Aguiló Alonso
Antonio Bueno Thomas
Manuel Cruz Rodríguez
Juan Cruz Ruiz
Rafael Fernández del Amo
José Miguel García Sánchez
Fernando León de Aranoa
Rosa León Conde
Eva Lootz Pater
Jesús Prieto de Pedro
Alicia Moreno Espert
Francisca Rubio Gámez
Oliva María Rubio
José Luis Téllez Videras
Juan Ángel Vela del Campo
Our history
In April 1880, a small group of artists founded the Círculo de Bellas Artes as a center for cultural promotion. Its first president was the painter Juan Martínez de Espinosa. During the first years of the 20th century, important figures of the cultural life of the time, such as Jacinto Benavente or Carlos Arniches, passed through the board of directors of the CBA, while the young Picasso attended as a student to painting classes and Ramón María del Valle-Inclán frequented its halls.
Between 1880 and 1926, the Círculo changed its headquarters ten times: Barquillo, 5; Madera, 8; Lobo, 10; Abada, 2; Libertad, 16; Barquillo, 11; Alcalá, 7; Alcalá, 14 and finally Alcalá, 42.
Consortium
